I met with a local florist recently who MANY people I know go to. He does over the top elaborate designs as he is more of an “event stylist” than just a florist for weddings of usually 400+ guests.

Anyways, I’m going for a more simple look with my decor and when I showed him my center pieces, he told me that my goblets don’t match the lanterns and the birdcages. Also commented that my lanterns are for outside decor. His assistant/partner was sitting for that part and disagreed with him about that when I showed him what they looked like. Then he said my centerpieces can’t be seen from far away and I should make some high ones, which I’m not really concerned about them not being seen from afar. Really, who cares! Then said because I’m *only* having 16 tables, I shouldn’t have three different center pieces, but limit it to just two (lanterns and the birdcages) and alternate just them between the tables. But I love my tea light holder goblets! Now he’s got me second guessing my decor and it’s making me wonder if I’m just not seeing what he’s saying because I want the three to work well together. 🙁 My theme is “garden romance”. So I figured the lanterns and birdcages bring in the garden aspect and the tea light goblets and the lit candle in the lantern will bring out the romantic aspect. To get a visualization, my venue overlooks out into a garden and three of the four walls are windows. The ceiling is beautifully drapped with white fabric with chandeliers coming down (which I incorporate with the romantic look) and the venue provides the white garden chairs which goes perfect with the other part of my theme.

Back to the florist, needless to say, I don’t think I am going to hire him.. I think he would prefer to do a more elaborate design. And I don’t know if he intended to be rude, or if he thought he was giving me constructive critism about my decor ideas.

Thoughts please.. Do these centerpieces go together? Please be honest.

These are the lanters plus the three tier tea light goblets. I also bought mercury tea light holders to place on the tables as well.

Around the lanterns I’d like a flower wreath arranged. Similar to this pic beow:

With maybe some branches coming out, like this:

The goblets will have 3 or 4 little bud vases filled with flowers surrounding them. Like this pic:

These are the birdcages. I’d want to overflow them with flowers and then have pearls draped over them to give a little more of that romantic feel, like the second pic.

So what do you guys think? Does this all flow together and match well? I have 16 tables so 6 will have the lanterns, 6 will have the goblets with lthe bud vases, and 6 would have the birdcages.

I don’t think they match per say from just looking at them. But I think they could be easily tied together with other decor [not sure if you are putting anything else on the tables]. Maybe votive candles, flower petals, ect.

@jenilynevette: I will be putting votive candles, my venue allows five per table, so I’ll probably put all five. We can’t have real flower petals laid out on their linens. They have a design to them so I think the venue is afraid of the petals possibly staining the fabric.

@AlwaysSunny: I suppose I could, I would need to go back to the drawing board though… which stinks. I dunno if I should just return the goblets then and but 3 more of the lanterns and 3 of the large birdcages to fill the tables with…? Then again, the birdcages were a seasonal item and I wouldn’t be able to get anymore. :/

Personally while i think previous posters have some valid points i tend to disagree about them not working together. While they don’t match in your traditional ‘matchy matchy’ kinda way I do feel they do co-ordinate well together (and will more so with flowers that co ordinate and bring the look together). It does have that vintage romance theme going on in that vintage does incorporate some mismatch items (think the mismatched crokery that that often goes with vintage tea party themes). So I think it does work with your theme & I also doubt any of your guests will look at them as critically as that florists. Generally guests are “oooo pretty” and then “lets party!” so honestly I don’t think you have to worry. 🙂

They will go together just fine as long as use the same flowers on each table. Pick 1-2 main flowers and repeat all around (with 2-3 other accent flowers-again the same throughout) I would skip the branches on the lantern as it gives a more woodsie feel than the other centerpieces. You could add a few mecury glass type baubles/bead strands with the lantern’s flowers like:

You could add these strands/pieces to your birdcage (with the pearls if you like–although that is a more vintage look as opposed to garden) and scatter the mercury glass small tea light holders all around.

The basics of design is to pick one or two elements and repeat throughout. So the flowers and the silver/mercury glass throughout will accomplish this and tie it all together. Perhaps a few silver/mercury glass gazing balls as well (for that garden theme)?

@j_lwt13: Thank you. I’m hoping that the flowers will bring it all together, along with the votive candles. My colors are blush, ivory, and gold and so I’m pretty much having blush roses with white hydrangeas as the main flowers, along with whatever else the florist thinks would go well with those flowers for my color palette.

@wabanzi: Yep, the flowers on all tables will def be matching. So I figure with the same color pattern in the flowers and with different centerpieces, it would all kinda mesh well together. I’m the type of person who doesn’t like when something is TOO matchy matchy. I see your point about the branches… I don’t think I am going to incorporate them. And those beads on the branches are very cute! Never seen those before, will need to look into them.

They go together beautifully! I don’t think everything has to “match” to have a cohesive look. We had a mix of bird cages and traditional centerpieces at our wedding, and we got a lot of compliments on them. (Also, I just realized that we’ve discussed dresses before – we must have very similar taste based on wedding gowns and floral arrangements, haha!)

I do want to give you a little warning, though (not sure if you’ve already talked to a florist yet, or what your budget is) – the floral wreaths can get very expensive. That’s exactly what I wanted, too. However, my florist talked me out of it. For one thing, the cost was pretty crazy, considering that what I wanted for a wreath required less flowers than a bowl centerpiece (which cost less). I guess it’s the time required to arrange it, and the cost of supplies that makes it more expensive. She also suggested an alternative to the wreaths because they take up a lot of room on tables, and most of our tables had the maximum number of guests (10) each, so the table settings were already tight. What we did instead were flowers inside the bird cages, or flowers kind of sprouting out of the top, with ivy draped around the bottom. Maybe your florist will give you a different response, though! Fingers crossed 🙂

ETA – oops, I just saw that you have already spoken to a florist. Sorry! I guess I must be one of those bees who doesn’t always actually read the thread before replying

@Diamond84: I just came home from Michaels crafts and they have the silver/mecury glass beads and garland all over the place for Christmas. They will be on clearance soon enough if you are interested in incorporating them.

@Diamond84: I think your 3 ideas will work well together once they are united with the same type and color flowers.

I probably would have used the same centerpiece on all the tables, because I like the impact of repetition, but that’s just me.

No one NEEDS tall centerpieces. That’s just another way of padding the bill. Florists try to sell them saying that you have high ceilings so you need tall centerpieces. I call BS. Even a tall centerpiece doesn’t fill up the room, and most of the time your guests will be looking across the table, not 3-4 feet above it.

I think your florist wanted a bigger bill and wasn’t connecting at all with your vision, thus isn’t a good match for your wedding.

@Diamond84: I bought a TON of random vases, bird cages, candle holders, and lanterns for my centerpieces and nobody thought they would match or look good together but sure enough they looked great! Just add some touches to each table to tie them together! I added fall leaves and the same mini crandberry tea lights to each table so that they all had some sort of unity 🙂

Tablecloths that match also help bring together mis matched centerpieces!

@GracieGirl11: lol, no way! Great minds think alike! 😉 Yup, I already spoke to the florist and he didn’t tell me exactly how much each wreath, bridesmaid bouquets, bouts, etc. were but gave me a sum total of what it would all cost, which was $500 over my price range so I’m going back to the drawing board, especially since he was quite rude.

@wabanzi: Thanks for letting me know! I’ll have to pop in there sometime soon and check them out.

@julies1949: Thanks, I look forward to seeing what different florists will say to my inspiration.

@Payless: Your decor sounded lovely! I’ll def keep the votive candles and flower type and color the same on each table.

@gromble: Thanks for the tip, though I think if I tried to paint or stain anything, I’d just make a mess of it. I’m so not a DIY person at all and envy all the bees on here who are.

I agree with gromble that painting the lanterns to match would definitely pull everything together. It seems like the other items have a silver color. Since you stated your colors are blush, ivory, and gold perhaps you should paint them all gold?

They’re not matchy matchy, and I like that. People unfamiliar with design often match everything perfectly and end up with a boring, one dimensional look. I like that your pieces don’t look like a cookie cutter set. With the right pieces, colors, and textures tying them together, I think your wedding will be beautiful. Use what you’ve purchased, and hire another florist.

My sister also interviewed and hired a very opinionated “event stylist” florist, and he did his own thing and did NOT take her wishes into account. She asked for high glamour, and he gave her an English garden party look. It was pretty, but not her taste. She fired him 2 weeks before the wedding and found someone else who made her very glamorous vision come true.